Symbolic Cultural Patterns in Abdul Rahman Munif’s Novel "Al-Nihayat" (Endings)

Abstract

The study examines Abdul Rahman Munif's work "Al-Nihayat" to reveal its hidden subtext through cultural pattern analysis. It investigates how the novel interacts with Socialism as a meta-ideological system by evaluating how it constructs power relationships between central and peripheral elements.

The research decodes Assaf's symbolic patterns through his character development, space transformations, and center-margin conflicts. It surveys concealed structures that support intellectual dominance and discourse control, which leads to "narrative fragmentation" using separate short stories. The analysis employs Cultural Criticism to investigate Meta-narratives, Implicit Patterns, and Center and Margin, Intellectual Hegemony, and the Prevailing vs. the Isolated.

The findings demonstrate that Socialism operates as a meta-narrative through which Munif expresses his sadness for its loss through the deaths of Assaf and the village of Taiba, who require its restoration. The protagonist serves as a systemic symbol who shows duality between his inner existence and his outer appearance. The author Munif reverses spatial power relationships by giving the marginal area of "Taiba" equal importance to central locations. The narrative fragmentation transforms the culturally isolated "animal" into a core positive symbol, which directly contests traditional sovereignty.